Patched Up.

Huzzah!

I've won two new auctions on ebay and claimed two new patches for myself. These are what they look like.


Customizable GhostBusters Name Patch.
The nice lady in California who sells these bad boys, will put your last name in them, ala, Ghostbusters. Same size. Same color. Same font. And then mail it to you.
I wanted a namebadge on the jacket that I'm adding these patches to, but couldn't find a patch that I particularly liked. In all my searchings online, I kept thinking, "I just want something that looks simply, like the Ghostbusters-style patch. Something that doesn't draw attention to itself."
Lo and Behold, this chick in Cali will customizably make EXACTLY what I was looking for.
Total cost, including shipping = $12



Buckaroo Banzai Winged B's Patch
I'm a sucker for the movie, "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension". I can remember seeing that movie on repeat on the movie channels at my grandparents house. I thought all of the aliens dialogue was HILARIOUS. "John Bigga-bootay!" Etc.
I own it on DVD as an adult and whenever I watch it, I'm struck by how charming it is. The end sequence with the flying spaceships is retardedly brief. But the final "Heroes Strut" scene still inspires me and makes me hungry for the follow-up movie that never happened. (Wes Anderson sights the same scene as his ending for The Life Aquatic. Which is another reason why I love that movie, too.)
Of the patches that I found online for Buckaroo Banzai, this was the one that didn't look like it was designed by Konami for a 1984 Video Game Box Cover. This one has a classic look to it, that I like.
I am planning on placing this, either on the right breast area of the jacket or on the neck of the back of the coat. Whichever looks the most balanced.
Total cost, including shipping = $10



Hellboy's B.P.R.D. patch
I've actually owned this for two or three years now. But I've never taken the time to get it placed on a jacket. I love the dark design of this patch. Nice balance of red and black. This one is going on the right sleeve of the jacket and will likely be the only patch over there.
This was the patch that inspired me to remake my grey, electricians coat into something else. A jacket that has a sleeve in other worlds, where these fictional companies exist.
Total cost, including shipping = Can't Remember. I think around $8.

For some reason, I've lately been buying t-shirts and patches that come directly from the reality of movies and tv shows. I like the idea that products and brand names that are created only in fictional mediums are somehow birthed into existence in my world and I can own them.

For example:
Ed's shirt from Shaun of the Dead.
A Team Zissou Logo Shirt.
A Rushmore Academy Shirt.
Patches from various fictional Sci-Fi movies.

It's not enough that a patch says, "Star Wars: The Movie" or
I Grok Spock" on it. I don't have any interest in that. But a "Yoyodyne Institute" patch? Or a "Weyland-Yutani Corp" logo t-shirt? Give me that.

I guess I like the subtle nods to other realities that these products offer up. And how they silently ask the viewer to reference the fictional material to identify th reference. Cinema Hipsters might catch references and we are instantly connected. "Yes, I know that movie and yes, I like it too. So much so, that I'm wearing this obscure reference to it on my chest." All of that is spoken, without a word being exchanged.

I also like how the mere existence of these items teases at the fabric of reality. For example, "Air Kentucky" was an actual airline that lived for 3 or 4 brief years in my hometown of Louisville, KY. It was dead and gone, by 1979. In 2004, however, the brand of airline made a re-appearance in Wes Anderson's movie, "The Life Aquatic". Resurrected and alive and well, in the fictional world of that movie. I can go online, right now and buy a "Air Kentucky" t-shirt. And because of renewed interest in the company, I can buy EITHER the original logo of the actual company or the re-designed logo of the movie. A once dead company is teased back into existence, sort of, by the magic of the movies.

I love that idea.
I love that the world inside movies is just a step or two away from our own world. And by spending around $20, I gather to my bosom, these three items, with which I can subtly flaunt my particular brand of geekitude and simultaneously flirt with fictional worlds.

Boarding the USS Nostromo for a 0600 flight into Deep Space,
Mr.B

PS. Holy Crap! This website has an extensive listing of fictional companies from comics, movies and tv shows. I think I NEED a "Wayne Enterprises" shirt or a "Hidalgo Trading Co" hat.
Dang, the possibilities are limitless.